The problem is that if Franzen isn't scoring goals, he doesn't bring anything else to the team.

He needs to be more aggressive offensively and always look to shoot first. That doesn't always seem to be the case. We've seen him go on streaks where he's as good as anyone in the league at scoring goals. When he doesn't do it consistently, it appears it's because of him having a lazy work ethic.

The converse argument is when people state that he produces at the pay level he's currently at. I guess that's true. But that doesn't mean it's OK for a guy to be lazier and underachieve a bit.

So he's not a goal scorer. He's a hockey player. I'd rather have a guy who's just as happy to set someone else up as he is to score.

Just so long as the puck goes in the net, I don't care whose stick it hits first.

Generally I agree, but I'm sure someone on the team has told Franzen more than once that they want goals from him. He may not consider himself a goal scorer, but the Wings need him to be one.

When the Wings look up and down their roster for who they need goals from, Mule is at the top of the list. The Wings have needed a sniper for several seasons now and Franzen is the closest thing to it. Franzen's mentality should be rip a shot on net and use that big body to go after it if it doesn't go in.

And as others have mentioned, he didn't get an 11 year contract extension due to his hustle.

I don't want to read too much into one quote from him but if that's truly his mentality then it's no surprise he seems to be especially streaky and score in bunches. It's seemed like when one goes in for him, Mule remembers how fun it is to score and tries to do it more, but then that fades.

Generally I agree, but I'm sure someone on the team has told Franzen more than once that they want goals from him. He may not consider himself a goal scorer, but the Wings need him to be one.

When the Wings look up and down their roster for who they need goals from, Mule is at the top of the list. The Wings have needed a sniper for several seasons now and Franzen is the closest thing to it. Franzen's mentality should be rip a shot on net and use that big body to go after it if it doesn't go in.

And as others have mentioned, he didn't get an 11 year contract extension due to his hustle.

I don't want to read too much into one quote from him but if that's truly his mentality then it's no surprise he seems to be especially streaky and score in bunches. It's seemed like when one goes in for him, Mule remembers how fun it is to score and tries to do it more, but then that fades.

Franzen is a laid back dude. He's always saying s*** like this. It's the verbal equivalent of "shrugging".

It'll be status quo for Franzen this season. If any of you are holding out hope for him to go full beast mode, you'll be disappointed. However, if you're more or less happy with what he brings vs what he gets paid, then there's no cause for alarm based on this latest quote from Mule.

Franzen is a laid back dude. He's always saying s*** like this. It's the verbal equivalent of "shrugging".

It'll be status quo for Franzen this season. If any of you are holding out hope for him to go full beast mode, you'll be disappointed. However, if you're more or less happy with what he brings vs what he gets paid, then there's no cause for alarm based on this latest quote from Mule.

I think franzenstein will either bring it this year or get bought out.

It's a good thing none of you guys are coaches! The guy was making a pretty straightforward statement. He's at the other end of the spectrum of guys like Yzerman, Gretzky, Crosby, Ovechkin, etc. Goal-scorers are often very snobby. Good for him that he's not, but he can be, and a good coach is able to bring that out. Sort of like how Bowman would "coddle" Fedorov to keep him productive. Humans are very complex. Don't hate on him.

Like others have said, I don't care how he produces, just that he does. It's getting difficult defending his attitude sometimes, though. He really needs to come off like he cares a little more, even if he's just pretending.

If the line is Mule-Weiss-Alfredsson, he may really need to step up, though. That's some solid skill, but they're all passive in nature and the type of game they play. Someone's going to have to be willing to fire the puck at the net.

The most popular choice among the Red Wings as to who would volunteer to play goalie – several Panthers did in their game – was Brendan Smith.

"He's pretty competitive and he seems to be good at everything," Justin Abdelkader said. "He'd volunteer himself."

Babcock was a bit more hesitant about Smith. "Yeah, yeah, just work on getting out of your zone," Babcock said

About the only time Francine manages an assist is when someone else works their ass off to get him the puck and he happens to bounce it off a teammate and into the net. Makes me wanna puke each time I think about him making only 1.7M less than Datsyuk, one of the best players in the league.